


Your Kiss is Sweeter Than a Blueberry Muffin

by notcooljamie



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Baking, Cooking, M/M, Rival Restaurants, masato crying while chopping onions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:01:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7039909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcooljamie/pseuds/notcooljamie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tokiya and Masato work at Rivaling Restaurants, and a relationship may start to cook after a small gift like a Chocolate Cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It All Began with a Chocolate Cake

The stoic waiter loosely swiped the damp washcloth across the dirtied table surface, the sunlight warm on his back as he wiped down the one of the outside tables of the restaurant he was currently working at and had been for the last two or three years. The waiter stood up straight, tucking some loose hair strands that had fallen into his line of vision behind his ear as his dark blue hues flickered across the table, making sure he hadn't missed any spots.

The waiter’s ears were filled with the quiet chatter of customers at the outside tables as he walked back only for the sounds to become more faint as he got back inside, the small bell above the door ringing as he did so. The scent of food filled the air of the restaurant as he made his way into the back to pick up an order, quickly walking over to the counter in short strides before he turned on his heel with a platter of food in one hand.

As the waiter returned to the outside tables and made his way over to a customer waiting at their table, out of the corner of his eye he could see the neighboring restaurant was as busy as ever.

The new restaurant had recently moved next to them, and it was getting a lot of customers, many coming from the restaurant that the waiter was working at. Since then, their restaurant had drastically went down in the numbers of customers they had been getting. The waiter sighed under his breath, setting the platter of food down onto the table of the customer with a smile and a quick ‘Enjoy.’

“Masato, another order is ready!” One of the waiter’s coworkers called out the door, before the fellow waiter ran off to give another customer service. Masato turned and made his way back inside to go on with the work day as usual as he went to retrieve another order from the cooks.

Later in the day when the restaurant wasn't as busy and Masato was on his break, he was seated at one of the outdoor tables and was having one of the restaurant’s blueberry muffins. Suddenly, as he was lifting the muffin to his lips, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his table along with a deep and smooth man’s voice speaking to him.

Masato glanced up from his muffin to see a man with dark blue hair standing before him and holding a medium-sized white box. Masato recognized him from the neighboring restaurant’s staff, but wasn't sure of the man’s name. His eyes flickered over the man’s name tag, seeing that it read ‘Tokiya’.

The man, Tokiya, cleared his throat and reached out a hand to offer the white box out to Masato. “You work here, correct? I was told to give this to the staff of this restaurant as a gift.” Tokiya spoke, his expression indifferent as he gazed down at Masato.

Masato returned Tokiya’s gaze with a calm and, like Tokiya’s, indifferent expression as he accepted the box from him. After opening it, the box was revealed to contain a chocolate cake with vanilla icing. Masato looked back up at Tokiya, giving a small nod.

“Thank you, I'll make sure to show the others… Uhm…?” Masato spoke, his eyebrows knitting themselves together as he looked up at Tokiya while racking his brain as to what to call the Man, feeling that it'd be inappropriate to call him on first name basis.

Tokiya let out a small sigh, understanding what Masato must have been wondering about. “Ichinose, Ichinose Tokiya.” Tokiya spoke, stating his name. Masato nodded in response, turning back to his muffin.

“Thank you, Ichinose. I'll tell my coworkers it was from you.” Masato stated, picking his muffin back up as a signal that Tokiya could leave and go back on his way. Tokiya took the hint, turning on his heel and leaving Masato to his muffin as he got back to his own job.

Masato finished his muffin just a few minutes later, dabbing a napkin to his mouth since he was just that type of person, and stood up from his table and picking the white cake box up and taking it to his other coworkers and throwing away the muffin wrapper on his way there. 

Masato’s coworkers were curious about where Masato got the cake, and after he explained he got mixed responses. A few were suspicious about Tokiya’s intentions, and one of them even teased Masato about how Tokiya may have an interest in him only to later specify that it was a joke. Masato sighed as shook his head, lightly smacking said coworker on the arm which earned him a chuckle.

After he and his coworkers tried the cake out, Masato noticed that it was a rather high quality cake and felt slightly disheartened and understood how popular the other restaurant was. However, he quickly shook his head to rid his mind of such negative thoughts and told himself he’d need to thank Tokiya the next time he got the chance.


	2. Exchanging Phone Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya's coworkers have the slightest inkling that something is going on, and urge Tokiya to ask for Masato's phone number.

Dark blue eyes sleepily fluttered open, only to be squeezed shut when the sun blinded them harshly. Masato groaned and rolled over so that his back was facing his window, which was allowing the warm sun to hit his backside. He laid there unmoving for a short few moments, before groggily pushing himself up and sliding his legs over the side of his comfortable bed. A pale hand reached up to run slim fingers through his messy bed hair, and the other being raised to rub the sleep out of the tired boy’s eyes.

Masato pushed himself up from the bed, turning back to the messy bed to quickly fluff his pillow, and pull his covers up as he made the bed up once more. After that he turned on his heel and rushed over to his bathroom after grabbing a change of clothes, leaving the bathroom once he was changed out of his pajamas and he had fixed his hair to it’s usual neat hairstyle.

A pair of blue eyes flickered over the boy’s clock that rested on his nightstand, nodding to himself when he saw it was still early and he had plenty of time to make breakfast and get to work. Masato’s feet carried him to his kitchen, humming a gentle tune to himself as he made a traditional Japanese breakfast for himself.

After checking his clock once more, he finished his food and decided he'd have to clean the dishes another time since it was time for him to head over to work already. Masato stood up from his diminish table and went to place his keys and wallet into his pants’ pocket, leaving his apartment in a slight rush of time as he took the public bus to the restaurant.

There hasn't been any seats open so he held onto one of the straphangers, glancing to his side and his expression becoming one of surprise as a familiar blue-haired man stood beside him. Masato wasn't going to bother him but before he could turn away, Tokiya had already noticed someone’s eyes on him as he turned his head to face Masato’s gaze.

“Ah, good morning, Ichinose. I didn't mean to stare, I apologize.” Masato spoke, offering a small polite smile. Tokiya nodded in response, deciding to return Masato’s polite smile with his own, even if it was small.

“Good morning. It's not a problem, don't worry over it. Did your staff enjoy the cake?” Tokiya questioned the other, but before Masato could answer the bus had come to a sudden stop as it arrived at one of the passenger’s destinations. Now, Masato hadn't been holding onto the straphanger very firmly, and so due to the bus’ sudden halt he ended up nearly falling over and in that process he bumped into Tokiya. If not for Tokiya being there, Masato would have surely fallen with how harsh the bus’ stop was.

Masato scrambled to compose himself and was sure to hold onto the straphanger more tightly this time, giving small bows as he apologized to Tokiya. “I apologize, Ichinose. I should have held on to the straphanger properly…” Masato stated with his head bowed, his rather long eyelashes covering his eyes.

“There's nothing to worry about, Hijirikawa-san, it was a small mistake. No one was harmed.” Tokiya stated, feeling slightly unnerved with how Masato was bowing to him. Masato let out a brief sigh in relief, raising his head once more and nodding in response to Tokiya. After that, Masato and Tokiya stood next to each other in silence, Masato feeling a sense of awkwardness as he racked his brain for topics for small talk.

Before Masato could speak another word to Tokiya, the driver called out the destination and the two blue-haired men realized they had already arrived at their stop. Tokiya and Masato made their way off of the bus together, walking the rest of the way together until they arrived at the neighboring restaurants. Tokiya turned to Masato briefly, bidding him a quick goodbye before running off to his own job before Masato could give a response.

Masato gave a small and brief wave to Tokiya, whether Tokiya could see it or not, before turning on his heel and walking to the restaurant and quickly getting his work apron on. A few of his coworkers noticed he and Tokiya walking there together and questioned him on it, but Masato brushed it off with a brief and vague explanation that they ran into each other on the public bus.

It was still sort of early so the restaurant only had a few customers, allowing the staff to relax somewhat and take their time with work. Masato was out at the outside seating tables, taking a couple’s order to them. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a quick glimpse of Tokiya working at the neighboring restaurant, noticing that their restaurant was as busy as ever. Masato paid no mind to it and directed his attention back onto the couple as he set down their food with a quick ‘Enjoy your food.’ before turning on his heel and getting back inside of the restaurant to retrieve another order.

Later in the evening Masato was already on his lunch break, relaxing at one of the outer tables with a glass of iced tea and a slice of cherry pie. Masato felt a small sense of Deja vu as he heard footsteps approaching his table. Once he looked up from his iced tea to see Tokiya making his way over to him, setting his glass down to give the other man his fuller attention.

Tokiya stopped in his tracks once stood in front of Masato, holding a small slip of paper in between his fingers, gazing down at Masato before glancing to the side to avert his gaze.

“Hijirikawa-san…”  
“Yes…?”

Tokiya cleared his throat and offered out the small slip of white folded paper out to Masato, allowing him to accept it and unfold it to reveal a phone number written in neat handwriting. Masato glanced up to Tokiya in curiosity, cocking his head to the side as he watched Tokiya and waited for an explanation.

After turning his attention back to Masato’s confused expression, Tokiya side and raised his hand to rub the back of his neck as an awkward habit. “...My coworkers kept urging me to exchange phone numbers with you, so there you go I suppose.” Tokiya breathed out a sigh, gazing at Masato and hoping for an understanding reaction.

Masato offered the same, small, polite smile to Tokiya as he did earlier on the public bus. He reached into his pants pocket and dug out his old-fashioned flip phone and punched the phone number Tokiya gave him into his contacts, before shutting the phone and looking back up at Tokiya.

“Alright, I added you as a contact. Will that satisfy your coworkers?” Masato questioned, slightly joking about the last part but didn't make it clear in his tone. Tokiya couldn't help but let a small laugh slip past his lips, nodding and considering asking about the other’s number so that he could add his contact as well, brushing off the fact that Masato still had a flip-phone.

Tokiya gathered his courage and was about to question Masato about his phone number, before someone back at his job called him over to come back to work, causing him to let out a sigh as he said his goodbyes to Masato and rushed back to work.

Masato watched Tokiya run off, wearing a small smile as he looked down at the phone he held in his hand for a moment before stuffing it back into his pants pocket. He decided he’d call Tokiya later that day, and gave his attention back to his lunch before his pie got cold.

‘I suppose I may have a new friend, or rather, acquaintance…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Friend" Sure Masa, whatever you say. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed chapter two!


	3. Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya and Masato go on a lunch date... as friends, of course!!

A certain blue-haired boy stirred awake due to the sound of his phone going off next to his head. Tokiya groaned and sat up, snatching his phone and checking it to see an unfamiliar number appear on the screen. Confused, he stared at it for a moment before pressing it up to his ear after pressing ‘answer’.

“Hello…?” Tokiya spoke, leaning away from the phone to let out a brief yawn then pressing the small phone back up to his ear.

“Ichinose? This is Hijirikawa from the other restaurant… You sound sleepy, did I wake you up…?” Masato’s voice rang out on the other end of the line, slight worry laced in his voice. Tokiya let out a brief sigh, assuming with how wide awake Masato sounded, that he must not be on his day off.

“Sort of, I was just taking a small nap, don't worry yourself about it.” It was Tokiya’s day off from work so the night before he had been painting late into the night, causing him to sleep in a little but he didn't need Masato to know about that.

“Ah, I apologize about that… should I call another time, Ichinose?” Masato questioned, still sounding slightly worried causing Tokiya to let out one more sigh. He gave it a little thought, deciding it'd be a good idea to talk later so he could at least get dressed.

“Yes, I think that’d be for the best.” Tokiya gave it just a little more thought before he could hang up, “Perhaps, would you be alright with meeting up later today? I'm on my off day, so when do you get off of your shift?”

Masato was silent on the other line for a couple of moments, before his voice rang out over the phone again. “I'm actually on my off day as well, Ichinose.” Masato spoke, with the slightest trace of amusement in his voice.

“...Ah, I assumed you were going to work because-- Oh, never mind it. Would you like to meet up for lunch later? at the restaurant I work at.” Tokiya suggested, oblivious to the fact it sounded like a date, luckily Masato was just as oblivious to it.

“That sounds alright to me, I'll meet you there I suppose. You can send me the time in a message, because I have another call coming…” Masato stated, giving Tokiya a small ‘goodbye.’ before hanging up.

Tokiya sighed, bringing the phone down from his ear and did as Masato told, texting him the time he thought would be appropriate. Tokiya set his phone down so he could plug it in to let it charge, as he went off to change into more appropriate clothes seeing as he was still in his pajamas.

Later that day Tokiya arrived at the restaurant at the time he had texted to Masato, only to spot the familiar straight blue hair of a certain boy already seated at a table who was glancing at his phone. Tokiya strode over to Masato, taking a seat at the opposite side of Masato and giving him a polite smile.

“You arrived early, I'm assuming? how long did I have you waiting?” Tokiya questioned, hoping Masato hadn't been waiting for him to arrive for too long.

Masato put both hands up in front of himself, waving them slightly as a type of silent signal that there wasn't a problem. “I only arrived a couple minutes ago, you don't have anything to worry about.” Masato let a laugh slip past his lips.

Shortly after, the waiter showed up to take their orders and wore an expression of slight surprise to see Tokiya there with the other boy. After the two ordered, the waiter scribbled them down on his notepad before running off to deliver the orders to the chef.

The two of them say in silence for a moment, both racking their minds for a subject to talk about. Tokiya was the one to break the silence, glancing up at Masato in curiosity.

“So… how long have you worked at the other restaurant? you seem rather friendly with your coworkers.” Tokiya spoke, not realizing that Masato might be curious as to how Tokiya knew that about him. The truth was, during his shifts Tokiya sometimes caught himself glancing over to the outer tables of the restaurant that Masato worked at, without realizing until that point.

Masato closed his eyes in thought for a moment, a small smile tugging on his lips. “I've worked there since I was about 17, so I've been working there for a while now…” Masato stated, resting an elbow on the table without realizing and placing his cheek into his palm as he watched Tokiya for a response.

“Oh? so how old are you now, then?” Tokiya would assume based on Masato’s appearance that he was at least twenty or so, so he was thinking he'd get an answer stating Masato was in his early twenties.

Masato didn't get to answer because right before he was about to, their food had just arrived so his words were interrupted by the waiter giving them a small ‘enjoy’. Masato wore an expression of confusion when he caught a glance of the waiter giving Tokiya a thumbs up, causing Tokiya to let out a sigh.

“You also seem to know your co workers well, Ichinose. How long have you worked here, might I ask?” Masato asked, somewhat referring to the waiter seeming rather familiar with Tokiya. A frown tugged on Tokiya’s lips, raising a hand to run the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I've worked here since I was 18, I'm currently 20, so I've not worked here for very long but I'm still pretty friendly with my coworkers and also rather familiar with our regular customers.” Tokiya stated, rubbing his chin nonchalantly in thought. Speaking of customers, Masato had noticed quite a few of the other customers stealing glances of Tokiya.

After Masato gave it a bit of thought, Tokiya was actually rather… nice looking, so he could understand the other customers interest… as a friend. Tokiya looked up to meet Masato’s eyes, causing Masato to realize he had accidentally started staring at Tokiya.

“Ah, I'm sorry, was I staring…?” Of course he was, but he'd make it seem so he hadn't noticed, which wasn't exactly a lie. Tokiya returned Masato’s apology with a small nod.

“You kind of were, but it's not a big deal, don't worry about it. I understand that it was an accident.” Tokiya stated, reassuring Masato that there wasn't an issue. Masato glanced down at both of their plates, noticing they had both already finished their food.

Masato looked up at Tokiya with a curious expression, tilting his head just barely. “So, do we leave now…? We already finished our food, so I was just wondering…” Masato questioned, placing his hands in his lap as he waited for a reply.

Tokiya felt a slight feeling of disappointment in him, but brushed it off and ignored it. “I suppose so… would you like me to walk home with you…?” Tokiya felt a tiny bit hopeful that Masato would agree.

Masato nodded and smiled, standing up from the table and grabbing his bag which was hanging on the back of his chair he was seated in. Tokiya stood up as well, digging into his pockets and fishing out his wallet and placing enough money for both orders down onto the table along with a tip.

The action caused Masato to look at Tokiya in surprise, eyes widening. “Ichinose, I was going to pay for my own order… You didn't need to do that.” Masato stated, wearing a small frown. Tokiya looked back at Masato, shaking his head no.

“No, no, I can pay for it. I invited you, so it's only fair that I pay for it.” Tokiya stated, assuring Masato that it was fine, but Masato wasn't completely convinced although he'd go along with it.

“Alright… but next time I'm paying for both orders, then.” Masato pouted, sighing and pulling his bag over his shoulder and behind making his way over to the exit to the restaurant, making sure Tokiya couldn't disagree, as Tokiya followed after him.

They walked to Masato’s apartment together in silence, exchanging occasional glances at one another, before they made it to the staircase of Masato’s apartment building. Masato turned to Tokiya with a small smile, readjusting the bag on his shoulder.

“...Would you like to come in for a quick cup of tea, Ichinose?” Masato shyly questioned, still feeling a no strange about the fact that Tokiya had paid for their meal. Tokiya was a little taken aback, but gave a small nod nonetheless.

Masato lead the way up the stairs with Tokiya following after him, taking a moment to get his key out before unlocking his door and stepping in, holding the door open and allowing Tokiya to step in as well. After shutting and locking his door, he ran off to the kitchen after pointing out the dining table to Tokiya.

Tokiya looked around Masato’s tidy apartment, noticing that he had a lot of plants sitting in the windows and a large bookshelf filled with books, and that the whole place smelled like some kind of scented candle so he assumed Masato had one out somewhere. Tokiya continued looking around as he made his way over to the white dining table and sat down, waiting for Masato to come out with the tea.

Masato came out shortly after with two cups and a kettle of tea, setting the kettle down first with the two cups following after before pouring tea into the medium sized cups. Masato have Tokiya a quick warning that it was hot, getting up again to grab some milk to add in.

After returning with the milk he poured it into both cups before setting two spoons down, and finally taking a seat next to Tokiya at the table. Masato sat in silence with Tokiya as they both stirred the milk into the bitter beverage, Masato catching himself glancing at Tokiya’s face. Tokiya ended up glancing over at Masato causing their eyes to meet, only for Masato to look away a moment later.

Tokiya brought his cup up to his lips, quietly sipping on it. “Thank you for the tea, Hijirikawa-san, it's good…” Tokiya quietly spoke, taking another drink from the cup. Masato held the cup in his hands, feeling the warmth from the tea as a small smile graced his lips.

“Your welcome, I know you said it's fine but I still wanted to do something for you because you paid for our meal…” Masato stated, bringing his cup up to his lips and sipping on the hot tea.

Tokiya hums in response, resting his elbow atop the table, balancing his cheek in his palm with a sigh. “I see you're still not over that… But nonetheless, the tea is still nice, I hope you feel it's a bit more equal now.” Tokiya gave a quiet chuckle, glancing over to Masato.

“I do, makes me feel better that I've done something for you in return, Ichinose… even if it's something small.” Masato stated, glancing to the side and finding himself meeting Tokiya’s eyes as the other gazed at him. They both sat there in silence, looking into one another’s eyes for a moment, before Tokiya looked away and stood up.

“...Well, it's about time I go, thank you for the tea, Hijirikawa-san.” Tokiya spoke, averting his eyes as Masato stood up and nodded. Masato walked Tokiya to the door and waved him goodbye, sighing as he closed the door while Tokiya walked down the stairwell.

Masato walked over to his couch, plopping down onto his couch and staring up at the ceiling with a frown, feeling confusion in his stomach as he just stared at the blank white wallpaper, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter didn't seem too rushed, because it sorta was? If so, I apologize, but enjoy the gay staring.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! and I also hope you're all ready for some very sweet (nudge nudge wink wink) kisses in the future chapters.


End file.
